Computer Guru's...I NEED MAJOR HELP!

Tex Star Detail

Tex Star Detail

Formerly TexasTB
I have an older computer....I'd say about 4-5 years old. eMachines T2460
256 MB DDR and 60 GB Hard drive.....stop laughing...haha
I had it wiped clean about...oh....2 years ago. Pretty much surf the car forums, read email, download pics here and there.
So here is my problem. It has been acting up lately. Loading SLOW when I turn it on.....freezing up.....the stuff that makes you want to throw it out a window.

Then...it went...just forget about it....ya know. When I start it, the WindowsXP screen shows up with that little bar going across. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to get to my screen with the icons, but some will not show, and I cannot click on anything.

NOW....I will turn it on...the windowsXP screen will show, then my monitor shuts off. The computer itself is on and I hear the fan running, but the little light(amber) stays on.

So now I cannot get on the computer at all. I at least need to get on and download my pictures onto a CD or something. I have some on there that are not replacable.

I have ran Norton antivirus since day one without any problems. It has always caught viruses. So what is the deal? Is it my Memory is so friggen full that my computer is overloaded?

I am on my laptop right now. I need to update the antivirus on it and mainly use it for offline business.

Any help would be appreciated. Nobody around town would even talk to me without me paying a fee upfront.


SECOND PROBLEM........I am running IE on my laptop and want to download FireFox. I go to all of the sites to download, but the downloadbutton is not there. It will show an arrow to the button, but the button is not there. Does that have something to do with my browser? I hate computers!!!!!

TIA
Chris W.
 
When you get into windows, go to a command prompt and type MSCONFIG
go to the START UP tab and look for unwanted items and un check them.

This is hard to explain over the computer. There will be many things in there that you do not want starting when you start up your pc (hence the slow start up time)
 
jsatek said:
When you get into windows, go to a command prompt and type MSCONFIG
go to the START UP tab and look for unwanted items and un check them.

This is hard to explain over the computer. There will be many things in there that you do not want starting when you start up your pc (hence the slow start up time)
Click to expand...


I cannot even get on now......



Another problem...I cannot click on any of the smilies working from my laptop...

I need computer classes.........
 
jsatek said:
Send me $350 over paypal and Ill remote in and fix it right away.
Click to expand...

you're kidding right?

If you don't have anything important on it start it up in dos and format it. Then reinstall xp and your done. If you have something important on it you can install the drive as a slave or secondary on another pc remove the data and then wipe it clean.
 
Try this
1. turn on your PC and wait for the first screen to go by, it will be the BIOS screen that gives your processor speed, all of the drives in your pc, all that stuff. As soon as that screen passes hold F8 on your keyboard, windows will start to load, just keep the button held and it will stop and give you a few options. One of the options will be "Load last known good configuration", use the arrows on the keyboard to select that and hit enter.

2. If that does not work then restart the computer and do the F8 thing again and there should be an option saying something to the effect of "boot into Safe Mode" try that.

Also I just had a thought, have you moved the computer into a different room recently. If so make sure there is a little air movement around the computer because it sounds a little as if your processor or video card is overheating under load and shutting off.
 
I think you need a new computer. :) 256 MB of RAM is really tough with XP. That is probaby part of the problem in regards to speed. You may have picked up a few adware/spyware programs (Norton AV doesn't look for those) that are hogging up most of your limited resources.

You will be able to put your old hard drive in to the new computer to pull off the files you want to save. A computer shop would probably charge you $50 to put files onto a CD/DVD.
 
Some solid advice there. I'd just go straight to safe mode first. If it boots into safe mode just fine, then you know it's an issue with something it's loading at startup. If it won't boot into safe mode either, then it's more likely a hardware issue, perhaps a failed stick of memory or something.

Once in safe mode, you can run msconfig by either Start Menu > Run > type in msconfig and hit enter, or the shortcut, windowskey-R will bring up the run dialog box, then type in msconfig.

Since you have the benefit of a second computer available, you can find out what everything in there is fairly easily. Go to the Startup tab all the way on the right. You can see what is loading at startup. Uncheck anything that you know for sure you don't need. For anything that you're not sure what it is or whether you need it, find the filename in the Command column. You may need to expand that column to get through the whole path to find the actual filename. Then do a google search on that filename. For instance, a file for Norton Antivirus is "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe. Do a google search for ccapp.exe. One of the first results on the page should be from liutilities.com. They've got a good database of startup executables. You don't ge a whole bunch of info on it without actually being a subscriber, but it will at least tell you what the file is a part of and whether or not it's needed for windows.

Once you've unchecked everything you don't need (which is defined as anything that's not absolutely positively needed for windows to start... uncheck anything associated with any application that you have installed, including antivirus/firewall, for now), then reboot normally, and see if it will come up. If it loads normally, then you're set. If not, then we're back to a likely hardware issue, or possible driver problem, though not likely unless you've changed a driver recently.

As far as getting your files off the drive... It is possible that you may be able to run your cd burning app in safe mode. I make no guarantees on that, as I've never tried it. The other way to go, as suggested above, is to put the drive in another machine as a slave drive and copy whatever you need from it.

A last-ditch effort you could try.... boot from your Windows XP cd and try to do a repair install. If that works, I would still just back up everything you need to keep, and reformat and reinstall clean.

Once you get everything you need off the drive, definitely reformat and do a clean install of Windows.

re: Firefox... www.getfirefox.com is the easiest. :) Once you've got it installed, get the latest Java runtime environment from www.java.com, install that, and you're set. Friends don't let friends use ie. :chop

-Kaos
 
Other then not enough ram for XP it sounds like you have some spyware/adware choking your system. Possibly even a virus, because Norton is not the best antivirus..... Anyway, You can buy a external hardrive enclosure for your FUBAR PC hardrive that will allow you to plug it into a USB port on your laptop so you can move your data files to your laptop. I would first install a GOOD virus detection app like NOD32 and some spyware/adware detectining apps on your laptop... Adaware and Spyware search & Destroy. And scan the old drive and clean it up before moving files to your laptop and possibly infecting it also.
 
Lwnwookie said:
Try this
1. turn on your PC and wait for the first screen to go by, it will be the BIOS screen that gives your processor speed, all of the drives in your pc, all that stuff. As soon as that screen passes hold F8 on your keyboard, windows will start to load, just keep the button held and it will stop and give you a few options. One of the options will be "Load last known good configuration", use the arrows on the keyboard to select that and hit enter.

2. If that does not work then restart the computer and do the F8 thing again and there should be an option saying something to the effect of "boot into Safe Mode" try that.

Also I just had a thought, have you moved the computer into a different room recently. If so make sure there is a little air movement around the computer because it sounds a little as if your processor or video card is overheating under load and shutting off.
Click to expand...


I tried running it in the "last know good config." Nothing...

Then I hit F* the next time round....started in safe mode, and I got to the start button, clicked it and clicked RUN.......Just at that time, it shut down again. It seems like I have a short time before it shuts down.
I have not moved the computer at all. I have it sitting on the floor right now....POS.....LOL

I see a new computer in my near future!!!!
 
If the pc reboots itself in safe mode, there may be a hardware problem. Safe mode (F8) disables many startup drivers and applications.
 
Just a thought Chris, when did you last take the case off & clean out the dust bunnies :eek They can build up & cause over-heating of the components. Might help, shouldn't hurt. :)
 
256mb is a little light for a modern PC.
You can buy a new computer from Dell for peanuts these days. I am sure buying a computer isnt on the top of your list, but if you intend to use it, its worth the peanuts.
 
norahcrv said:
Just a thought Chris, when did you last take the case off & clean out the dust bunnies :eek They can build up & cause over-heating of the components. Might help, shouldn't hurt. :)
Click to expand...
While the case is off, re-seat the memory (take it out and put is back in again). Also re-seat any add on cards like video, sound, lan. It may do nothing, but it is has worked in the past.
 
Is the memory the black box with the "wide"wires going to it?
I need to learn about computers!!!

Norah- I cleaned it out about a month ago, if that....wasn't too bad...
 
i had a similar problem with my XP machine, where it would shut off randomly, yet the hard drive and the cpu fan would continue to spin.

I would suggest investing in an external USB/Firewire Hard Drive enclosure and then you can copy your data over from the old machine onto your laptop and reformat the old drive

its really the easy way out but it works.(depending if your Windows XP License Key will work for the reinstall) i dont know if eMachines come with recovery disks, but if they do i'd try that first


if thats not an option, try looking in the BIOS for anything out of the ordinary.


if you wanna stay away from the BIOS and your comfortable that: A) you have no important data on the hard drive and B)your comfortable installing XP from a CD then:
Try running a repair on the windows XP installation, you can find information on doing that: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic8356.html

this is getting way too long i know, but the main thing is to protect your data, so the first and foremost thing i suggest you do is to set the drive as a slave or get the external enclosure and get your files, then if your reformat the drive by accident, oh well you already have a copy of the entire drive.


let me know how it all works out. Good Luck
 
TexasTB said:
Any help would be appreciated. Nobody around town would even talk to me without me paying a fee upfront.
Click to expand...

TexasTB said:
Is the memory the black box with the "wide"wires going to it?
I need to learn about computers!!!
Click to expand...


Chris, while you're getting some good advice here, try thinking of it like you would your car. You car is broken down and you're on the side of the road. You don't know how to fix it and you need your car. What would you do? If you didn't have a friend or family member to help you out, you would have your car towed to the garage and pay a mechanic to give you an estimate on how much to get your car running again.

Same with computers. People who repair computers see this stuff all the time, but do not work for free. You don't work for free, so why should they.

This should not be a major rebuild type effort, but may require a person who knows what they are doing look it over and correct the issues.

And if you decide to replace your computer, you could pay them to remove your important files and burn them to a CD.

Just my 2 cents worth of an opinion.
 
Yea....I give up. I tried everything mentioned, and the CPU shuts down the monitor. Fan still running and light still on, but there is nothing.

I even said screw what is on the hard drive and tried booting from the CD to wipe everything out, but it still powered itself down. It's like it has a friggen time limit.........


Thanks everyone for trying to help me out. I learned a few new things and added a few new gray hairs at the same time.
I guess I need to do some computer learning eventually. I'll just purchase a new one down the road.
 
Since you just browse forums and share pictures you don't have anything with very much importance on that computer. Take your windows XP cd put it in the cd drive and reboot. A message saying "press any key to boot from cd" will come up. Do what it says, afterwards do a full format, and re-install windows. There is no other way for you to fix it by yourself unless you have a very good idea of what is going on. Even then, it is not worth your time. Unless you have information that is highly valuable to you, reformat!
 
Have you called up eMachine? or whoever makes the pc? one of my clients had bought about 20 dells a couple of years ago and every single one has had a similiar problem. Dell sent a technican and replaced the motherboards.(as they broke...idiots lol)
i dont know about eMachines' repair policies but its worth a shot.
Definately give eMachines a call
 
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